hls30.com

The light just went off! I'll do some research Will

Jimmy, Silicone and urethane molds, but Alumalite resin has proven to be far less than UV stable-for a garage queen it is fine, for lasting in a daily driver it just won't do. Matching the grain in a mold is easy. For casting I prep the mixture and put it through 3-5 minutes of vacuum, I have yet to have an issue with pin holes, bubbles or cloudy clear parts. I have a Shoptask 1720XMTC Gold with CNC added, and a gas crucible furnace setup for almuminum, brass and cast iron in 1 quart volume or a #3(if memory serves) crucible, though at the moment I have no time to use either. I'll PM you, and we will have to talk. Will

Well, tomorrow is now a write off-gotta take the number one son to two Doctors apptments(thank goodness for answering machines) one at 9:30, and the other at 2:30-unless they get an earlier opening, and our local Z meeting at 7. Hopefully I'll get the boy well, and Wednesday will be make mold day! I have a few parts left to clean, and then I just have to match up containers, bed and pour! Will

The headlight covers are much more involved in that If I had to make each set by hand, no one would pay for my time in them-so I have to farm out the work to people with less opportunity cost per hour than I have. I am also having the same company quote me on casting the PS mirror stalks, hardware, and a few other suprises! The insulators are in the works with another member-I am making a set of molds for my car this week as well, and if his fall through, I will make mine available. I listed the most excellent parts I have accumulated. Including one each of the non-lit and the backlit heater control panels-I have not worked out the chroming process for them, but I do have other ideas. I also have other versions that will need some cleanup and repair, I will work on them for the second set of molds, but, I am in hopes someone will loan me better examples to start with. I also have a few surprises for a member or two... Will

Isn't there a specially modified CAT version 280ZX somewhere you could borrow? I know there is a picture in the archives.... Will

Gary, I was given a NOS set, I just today verified their fit on the hinges and in the pocket on the body of my car. I am going to be casting the hard parts this week, and maybe the soft parts depending on what the Holidays do to the delivery of my supply order-already delayed two days... But the molds will be made this week Will

MikeB, I have a couple of sets of the radio knobs, but if you could post a pic so I can make sure to repro the early ones. Radio Face plates(I have one for the '72) are on my wish list... Please verify the plug sizes, I have three different early choke plates-ultimately I will make a mold of all three. Will PS, I will set up a week just after the first for a repeat of this performance to get the parts people are sending in. PSS on the seat belt clips, I will insert a supporting wire into the reproduction for strength just as the original has.

Here is my list of what I have ready to clean up, and continue on. Where there is no part number, I have not narrowed it down to exactly which version I have. 1) Early 240Z Ashtray Body 2) Two versions of the lid for the above 3) Mask-Radio Aperture Radio Blanking Plate 68835-E4100 NOS part 4) Early 240Z Console Finisher(Choke Plate) 86720-E4100 NOS Part 5) Grommet-heat glass switch (86722-E8700) hole cover for above 6) parking light hole cover for the early console above 7) Clip-Safety Belt (86640-E4100) short version seat belt hooks 8) Late 240Z Console Lid (above the Fuse Box) and hole covers(nos Parts) 9) Early 240Z Heater Control Panel 68600-E4102 NOS Part 10) Late 240Z Heater Control Panel 68830-E8201 NOS Part 11) front fender packing 63811-e4100 12) Boot-bulb inst finisher RH 68836-N3301 13) Boot-bulb inst finisher LH 688368-N3302 14) gasket for the 240z door mirror(gasket for 96301-E4600) NOS Part 15) Seal-cover hinge tail gasket RH (90410-E4101) hatch hinge boot NOS Part 16) Seal-cover hinge tail gasket LH (90411-E4101) hatch hinge boot NOS Part 17) Tube-Drain (90828-E4101) Tube for hatch vent NOS Part 18) Rim (26433-E4100) unshrouded map light frame 19) Choke/Throttle knobs 20) Emblem-Instrument (68850-E4600) glove box emblem 21) the late 240Z console emblem 22) 240Z shifter knob emblems 4spd and 5 spd 23) switch paddle/pull 24) early 240Z Shift boot grommet. 25) The knob and stalk for red dot rearview mirror-maybe the head as well I am behind today because of a sick wee one, I do have a few more parts to find that I have and intend to make molds of-hopefully later tonight I will round them up and add them to the list. If you have suggestions for parts you would like added-please post them, if you have examples of parts that you would not mind loaning me, pm me for my address. Again, unless you don't pack them well, the only thing you will notice when you get them back within 2 weeks(10 business days) of my receiving them is they may be cleaner. I will also send you a replacement set of what ever you send me. If you don't have donor parts but do need some of these reproductions, they will be made available on several websites to be announced in the vendor forum here-if you have something you would like to make available to the S30 community, pm me about that too. For those of you that want to know the quality of these parts, I am going to be sending examples of them to several impartial but highly knowledgeable members to evaluate and post reviews of. Before everyone hits me up to be a reviewer, I have already picked them. Will PS if any of these parts is still available from Nissan USA, then I will be casting it in substantially different materials/finishes than the original part, or I have made a mistake in my research. I will be submitting an order to my local Nissan Dealer for every part number I verify and reproduce, and use the results of that order to verify that my reproductions will not create issues with Nissan USA/North America.

Tomohawk, Tape a picture of your girl friend over the center ventZ in your car, and you shouldn't need any...heat! OK Tampa has gotten its token below freezing weather for the year-the 70z and 80z will be back before you get there anyway! What were you thinking mentioning an Econobox(must less driving one) in a sports car forum-let alone a Z specific one-that is grounds to take your Z keyZ! Will

Today I am starting to get together everything to make some reproduction parts, I am hindered today by the unexpected illness of my son number 1, so I will not have as much time as I expected, but as he naps, and soaks up comfort, I will be doing some, if not all the following things-between Daddy duty! 1) getting all of the original parts I want to reproduce together in one spot. 2) Maximizing the condition of my original parts(cleaning and repairing) 3) Storing the ready parts until I am ready to actually make the molds 4) Getting appropriate containers for building the molds 5) Getting together the appropriate supplies for making the molds 6) Actually start making molds My intent is to post the basics of what I am doing here, not to take the time away from actually making the parts to make a technical article. Later on-probably when I have a set of Seat protectors to make a mold of, I will shoot a video of the entire process. I will post a picture of each of the progress of each of the 6 stages above-and list the parts that will be available at the end. Will PS. I will be posting the parts for sale on a couple of websites after they are made, and reviewed by several members on a thread in the vendors area. Pics of original parts to come...

Teeth marks remind me of too many things... Will

No need to remind you of what you already know! Will

Yup! that's what I ment... Will-You know, if you got your Z ready, you could drive it to Tampa, and really ENJOY THE RIDE! Will PS-see if Chris'll take you to Hooters, he has a way(maybe even his) with the waitresses there-but according to 2007 convention legend, needs a wingZman! :laugh: Will

Dave/Arne, one note on the 1018-it accepts up to 32lb paper(28lb acording to HP), and the liner of the film in question is equivalent to 91lb paper. Before you buy one, try running the material through it...or buy it under the condition it is returnable-sometimes tough on a discontinued item... Will

It could be done, but the guys at Speedhutt want cookie cutter work-no changes. Because of the gage lighting issues and the fact that EL answers more than one of the problems I ran into with LEDS, I am focusing my gage project on El solutions-as with the LEDS, I have invested several hundred dollars in supplies, and am seriously close to a solution everyone will love or hate-with some surprises for other interior lighting as well! Look for them just after the first of the year... Will

Dave, Before you pull your gages, I have a set of faces pulled and ready-at least one of the three possable sets-lets try to get all three varieties-pass along your scanner settings, and I'll email you the scans next weekend. Will

Dave, I bought a JDM version of the EL gage kit from Speedhutt, it had only one serious issue, the pointer rest-rather the lack of a hole to push it through. Did the MSA kit have the hole, or did you punch one or just eliminate the rest? With the EL, punching one opens the EL membrane to the air, seriously shortening its life and altering its light characteristics. Will

I looked at doing the Electro Luminescent version of the gages, and even ordered a set of metric gages from Speed hut-there was one issue with the speedo-I'll cover it on Daves white gage thread, and considered applying that EL technology to the rally clock. Because it is composed of two dials on its face, making both of them EL proved to be a challenge, but I did find a way! When I get the inner face moving at the right speed(I do have it powered and moving with no Oscillator!), I'll start on making the EL kit. Will

Another update, I have rulled out the two attempts, but in the process came up with three more, so the project is still moving on. Waiting on parts for this one and getting ready to make molds for another!(see the 1stgen seats thread) Will

I forgot to address the question on the length of time I would need the parts-no more than one week-This is not nearly as intensive as copying manuals, and then verifying them and correcting issues. My process is as follows. 1) Evaluate the original item to be reproduced 2) Clean the original 3) Repair Original if the owner wants it repaired-then start again with #1 3A) If the owner didn't want the original repaired, make a mold of the part as is... 3B) Cast a copy of the damaged original and repair the copy and start again with #1 4) Bed up the part and make a one, two, three or four part mold-depending entirely on the relief in the part. Most parts require a two part mold, larger parts(a console, large trim panel) are much easier to de-mold in multi part molds. The mold material I use sets up in 24 hours, so there is one full day in making and demolding a single part mold, add another day for each additional part required to complete the mold. 5) When the mold is complete and the original de-molded, I verify the success of the mold by casting two or three parts in a quick cure material to make 100% certian there are no issues with the mold-this takes a couple/three hours. 6) If there are issues with the mold, I start again, if not, box up the original part and return it to its owner-along with a pair of reproductions! It all boils down to it takes from two days to a week to make and verify a mold, but several can be made at the same time by bedding several parts requiring the same type of molds together... WIll

I didn't find one with 26345, how about pasting the actual pic here, and if it is one of mine, I'll hunt down and send the high res version to you. Will

Some how I managed to miss the questions. Thanks To MikeB for pointing that out to me this morning. I have several years of molding experience as a hobbiest. I have done a healthy number of lost wax castings, green sand castings, ceramic, and even a few styrofoam castings. I have made over 40 molds of small plastic parts, and simply not found a suitable material to cast them with-if they can't survive the South Ga. sun, without chalking or deforming I haven't considered the material to be the right one. Having said that, I have found what I believe to be the "right" material, and am waiting on a delivery of it early next week. The materials I use to make molds leave no trace, residue, and unless there is damage in shipment. When you get your part back, you will not be able to tell anything (except maybe a good cleaning) was done to it-unless it was a damaged example. and you want it repaired in the process. I am planning a marathon mold making effort starting Monday(12/16/07) and hope to get most if not all of my plastic parts cleaned, repaired-if necessary-and take a mold from them. In addition I am hoping to make several molds for the metal parts I have been holding. I am going to spend the majority of the week on this. I am also in negotiation for having an overseas company cast several of the metal parts from the molds I am making. Many of you know the story on the first round of having the headlight covers made, the molds were the problem. If I make and prove them by casting a single example locally(EXPENSIVE), then I can ship them overseas and have them cast in the same material for unbelievably less, and have part of them made in Ohio, they could be available soon! Will Will PS, I will be showing off the results at the end of the week, in a thread, and hopefully in a video.

USE ngk bpr6esII. Will

I posted some, since you know which one you want, look at the name of the member who posted it, and give its name from the post, and if it is one of mine(Mine were taken from the roof of the press building, so if is is a similar vantage point, I am probably the guilty one. If it is me, I'll send you the high res file. Will

It will fit on the aftermarket covers, and probably look better than the black they typically come with-depending on the color of your car... I might have to try a set as well-the narrower chrome ring may look better. Will